Self-organizing technology for disaster response and recovery

ABSTRACT

People facing emergencies, such as disasters, may not receive external assistance in a timely manner, instead having to rely on themselves for critical or extended periods. A system including emergency response containers providing both for organizational structure, including a method of assigning roles to available individuals, and task domain knowledge for organizational elements, namely the people facing and experiencing the emergency, allows for organic emergency response and eases transition to and effectiveness of external professional emergency response providers. In some embodiments the system is modular and adjustable for different situations.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/523,504, filed Jun. 14, 2012, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to emergency response systems,and more particularly to systems and methods for organic organizedemergency response.

Current disaster preparedness plans and programs have five, or more,well-known deficiencies.

First, current emergency response capacity is not sufficient to handlethe major disasters. The vast majority of current response capabilitydepends on usable infrastructure, particularly navigable roads. Ourhospitals are sized to handle day-to-day loads, not catastrophic loads,and not disasters where their own staff is personally affected as well.In seismic disasters immediate responses are required in non-medicalareas such as fire control, evaluation of structural damage, freeingtrapped and pinned victims, search and rescue, identifying andmitigating gas leaks, sanitation, first-aid, and the management of safewater and food resources. Medical triage and first aid would also berequired. This will all happen in neighborhoods cut-off from logisticsand reliable communications. People need to have methods to sustainthemselves, and help themselves, until local, State and Federalemergency services are fully operational.

Second, civilians only rarely adequately prepare themselves and theirhomes for disasters, despite the flood of information and encouragementfrom the government.

Third, most immediate disaster response and recovery efforts are handledby residents in the affected area, while by far the largest investmentin preparedness and response resources are for National and Stateresponders that will move into a disaster area only days or weeks ormonths after a disaster.

Fourth, the typical response plan assumes the importing andimplementation of a new disaster response Command & Control (C&C) systeminto the affected area. The locals, however, may not, and likely won't,understand the purpose, procedures, and vocabulary of responder's C&Csystem. On the other hand, the professional responders likely won'tunderstand the survivor's impromptu organizational structure, vocabularyand processes. Any impromptu organizational structure may also havedifficulties in formation and execution, as, for example, frictionsbetween possible participants may result in decreased participationand/or efficiencies. These frictions may arise as there may bedisagreements as to the form of organization, the contours of functionalroles within the organization, and who will fill those functional roles.Further inefficiencies will also arise simply due to the time to betaken in arriving at organizational structure and roles. In addition,the members of an impromptu organization simply may not know how torespond to what to them may be a novel and unexpected situation outsidethe realm of their normal experience.

Finally, community social organizations are usually intact andfunctional after a disaster. They have tremendous value for organizingrelief efforts, but are usually ignored by responders coming from theoutside who wish to establish their own organizational structure.

In Los Angeles it is anticipated that an earthquake that will disruptphysical access to the affected area by damaging roads andcommunications infrastructure will hit California in the near future.The massive increase in demand and lack of infrastructure will overwhelmemergency services. As a result, the average resident will not haveaccess to emergency services for up to two weeks. The CERT (CivilianEmergency Response Training) concept was developed and implemented bythe City of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985 to provide somebasic training in disaster survival and rescue skills in order toimprove the ability of citizens to survive until professional responderscould arrive. They recognized that citizens would very likely be ontheir own during the early stages of a catastrophic disaster. CERT alsorecognizes that there are insufficient civilian volunteers in the caseof a major disaster.

The city of Los Angeles' Civilian Emergency Response Training (CERT)program states that after a major disaster neighborhoods are expected tobe on their own for up to two weeks because of damaged infrastructureand lack of resources. Should weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) ever beused, professional responders would clearly be overwhelmed and civilianvolunteers would be called upon to fill the gap for immediate and shortterm needs. The CERT program trains a few thousand civilian volunteersper year to respond to natural disasters, but even LA's CERT officialsrecognize that there are insufficient trainees for a major disaster. Andin any case trained civilians and first-responders would have to choosebetween performing their duties, teaching others, or managingneighborhood rescue efforts.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the invention provide a system for implementing a structuredlevel response to an emergency. In some aspects the system includes adistribution system including discrete separable distributable itemshaving information. In some aspects the information of the items havinginformation is presented and/or presentable in a quantized sequence forformation of a structured organization for responding to the emergency.In some aspects the items having information are separated into itemsfor functional units of the organization. In some aspects the itemshaving information are grouped by a function to which each item ofinformation relates.

One aspect of the invention provides a system for use in responding toemergencies, comprising: a plurality of card packs, each card packdefining a role in a hierarchical organization, each role relating totasks to be performed by an individual in responding to an emergency, atleast some of the tasks including a task of distributing at least onecard pack to another; and a box containing the plurality of card packs.

Another aspect of the invention provides a system for use in respondingto emergencies, comprising: a plurality of items having information,each of the items having information relating to a organized localresponse to an emergency, the information of the items of informationproviding information as performance of emergency related tasks; and acontainer for holding the plurality of items of information.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of providing forlocalized response to emergency incidents, comprising: determining anarea suspected to be subject to an emergency; determining a type ofemergency to which the area is suspected to be subject; determining aplurality of roles for local responders to the emergency, at least oneof the roles being that of an incident commander; preparing informationfor the conduct of each of the roles; placing the information ontoitems; placing the items into a plurality of containers; and placing theplurality of containers in the area suspected to be subject to theemergency.

Another aspect of the invention provides a system for use in respondingto emergencies comprising a plurality of items configured to provideinformation relating to an organized local response to an emergency,each of the plurality of items being provisioned for a particular rolewithin an organization configured for providing the organized localresponse to the emergency, and a plurality of identification items, eachto identify an individual fulfilling the particular role in theorganization. In some aspects the item configured to provide informationis configured to receive information from a remote location, for examplethrough wireless communications, and to provide information using thereceived information.

Another aspect of the invention provides a system for use in respondingto emergencies, comprising: a plurality of packages of information, eachpackage of information including information defining a different rolein a hierarchical organization, each role relating to tasks to beperformed by an individual in responding to an emergency, at least someof the tasks including a task of recruitment of others to performsubsidiary roles in the hierarchical organization by way of distributingpackages of information to others so as to form the hierarchicalorganization, the plurality of packages of information including anincident commander package of information, the incident commanderpackage including a plurality of tokens allowing for access to theinformation of the packages of information; a server configured totransmit the plurality of packages of information to at least oneelectronic communication device.

These and other aspects of the invention are more fully comprehendedupon review of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates a disaster response enablement system in accordancewith aspects of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a further view of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a further view of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a section canister of the disaster responseenablement system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates example contents of the system of FIG. 1, includingcontents of a section canister of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6-10 illustrate an example cards of a disaster response enablementsystem in accordance with aspects of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of deployment and use of systems in accordancewith aspects of the invention; and

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of use of systems in accordance with aspects ofthe invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates various aspects of a system including electronicdevices for use in providing a localized response to emergency incidentsin accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a process relating to operation of a systemincluding electronic devices for use in providing a localized responseto emergency incidents in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment of the invention provides a self-contained just-in-timemanagement and training system in a box or box-like form. In someembodiments the system is a disaster response enablement system. In oneembodiment this is a rugged box, approximately one to three foot cube,which contains items having information, with the information such thatrecipients of the information can be informed of emergency related tasksto undertake in a step-by-step manner. In various embodiments each itemhaving information is separable from others of the items havinginformation, and each item having information includes specificinformation for performing a particular role in an organization forresponding to an emergency, including, for various roles, recruitment ofadditional individuals to perform subsidiary roles within theorganization. Accordingly, in some embodiments the items of informationdefine functional roles in an organization, provide information as tohow to perform those functional roles, and provide information as to howto form the organization and a method of doing so in a somewhatnon-contentious manner.

In some embodiments the items having information are in the form ofprinted material, for example printed cards, or printed scrolls, ofpaper, cloth, plastic, or polyester, for example Mylar. In someembodiments the items having information are audio, video, oraudiovisual players, with, for example, information being stored onelectronic or computer readable storage medium, non-transitory invarious embodiments, of the players. The use of such players may bebeneficial in that any requirement for literacy to be able to comprehendthe information provided may be reduced or eliminated. In addition, someplayers, for example players in the form of a laptop, tablet,smartphone, or similar computer device, may be able to store and provideenhanced or reference materials to supplement or explain theinformation. In some embodiments the items having information compriseradio frequency (RF) or other wireless communication devices, which mayinclude speakers and/or displays, and in some embodiments such devicesmay have information only in a figurative sense, with informationcommunicated to the device at times of use or potential use.

In some embodiments the information is the information of the provenCERT manuals, with the information for example printed on weatherproofpocket-sized cards. These cards may be grouped and bound into functionalpacks such as “Organizing People”, “Water Purification”, “Sanitation”,“Search Operations”, “Rescue Operations”, “Disaster Psychology”, and“Disaster Medical Operations”. In other embodiments the box containscards particular to specific expected emergency events, for exampleevacuation of a building or a campus, or a lock-down of same. Theinformation is organized and presented so that first-time readerswithout any previous knowledge or training in disaster responses canperform the appropriate tasks step-by-step. The card's advice would becongruent with other emergency incident policies and procedures, forexample, depending on the expected emergency, the National IncidentManagement System, local emergency procedures, or facility emergencyprocedures. These boxes can be pre-deployed in a variety of locations ordropped to the users or a locality of potential users during anincident.

Also included in the boxes in some embodiments are role or functionidentification vests or other wearable visible indicators. The wearablevisible indicators identify a role, function, or duties of the wearer inthe context of an organized hierarchical response to an emergency. Thewearable visible indicators are, preferably, items of clothing that maybe considered “one-size-fits-all,” with any one item generally wearableby a majority of the adult population or generally wearable by personshaving a body size over a large range of normal adult body sizes. Forexample, vests, caps, scarves, or other items of clothing are oftenwearable by those across a range of body sizes, or are adjustable toallow for such wear.

The items having information, in some embodiments having information,even if only temporarily in some embodiments, through reception of theinformation from a remote source, provide information to allow, inform,and guide untrained individuals in forming a hierarchical organizationto provide local emergency response efforts, and how to perform tasksassociated with positions in the organization. The information provided,in effect, provides instructions as to formation of the organization androles and tasks to be performed by members of the organization. Invarious embodiments the form of the organization, the functional rolesof members of the organization, and the tasks to be performed correlateto those expected to be used and/or performed by external professionalresponders, easing emergency response from local initially untrainedresponders to external professional responders. In some embodiments eachitem having information is specific to a particular role for ahierarchical emergency response organization, with the information ofeach item providing information as to how to perform the role, includinghow to recruit others to perform subsidiary roles. For example, a firstitem having information may provide instructions as to how to perform anincident commander role, and include instructions to provide others withitems having information so that the others may accept and performsubsidiary roles. The items having information provided to thoseaccepting the subsidiary roles may also include instructions to providestill further items having information to still others for furthersubsidiary roles.

With, for example, the items having information being cards, the firstperson to open the box would find a note like: “Since you opened thisbox, you are now the Incident Commander until someone with superiortraining agrees to replace you. Put on the Incident Commander Vest. Dowhat is explained in the cards packed with the vest. You can do this.”One of the first tasks indicated by information of the cards would be toenlist others to each take a stack of cards, wear a corresponding vest,and start performing the instructions in their card pack.

Such boxes, or other holders, are an inexpensive and immediate way todelivery effective, useful, and highly visible support to -the mostimportant first responders at any disaster: the affected civilianpopulation. The information is provided just-in-time and can be packagedwith different card decks for particular disaster or emergency types andlocations. The cards are preferably designed for rapid assimilation andto be immediately useful; literally right out of the box. In someembodiments the boxes, or other holders, may include audio, video, oraudiovisual devices including memory storing information for a pluralityof different emergencies, or including communication capabilities, forexample wireless communication capabilities, for receiving suchinformation, and possibly storing in memory, and displaying or otherwisepresenting such information upon or after the occurrence of a specificemergency, for example.

Such an approach may be useful in that it allows for determination ofappropriate information to include close to or even after occurrence ofan emergency.

FIG. 1 illustrates a disaster response enablement system in accordancewith aspects of the invention. The system of FIG. 1 is in the form of abox. The box includes a large bottom 111 portion and a top 113. A clasp115 secures the top to the bottom when the top is in a closed position.Lifting points 117, for example in the form of handles, are arranged onthe top and sides of the bottom of the box. A title and instructions fora person finding the box are also on one side of the box. The title mayfor example indicate that the box is an emergency response kit, and theinstructions for example may instruct the finder to open the box andfollow the instructions therein.

FIG. 2 shows the box with the top in an open position. As illustrated inFIG. 2, the top of the box is coupled to the bottom of the box by hinges211. A tray (311 in FIG. 3) has a top 213 which may be seen about thetop of the interior of the box. The tray top includes instructions forthe finder of the box, with the instructions for example labeled “ToFinder.”

FIG. 3 shows the box with the tray (which may be considered a commitmentbarrier), raised out of the box. The tray may be raised, for example,using a handle 313 coupled to the tray. Raising the tray exposes aplurality of canisters, for example a canister 315, within the box.

FIG. 4 illustrates a one of the canisters 411 raised out of the box. Thecanister in the embodiment of FIG. 4 is a parallelpiped, providing aconvenient form-factor for storing in the larger parallelpiped of thebox. The canister includes a handle 413 for ease of lifting out of thebox. Also, the canister, like the tray, includes an instruction card 415for a person selecting or being provided the canister.

FIG. 5 illustrates example contents of the tray 313 of FIG. 3 and thecanister 411 of FIG. 4. The tray of FIG. 2 includes a card, which may betermed an activation card 511 (with both front and back of theactivation card illustrated in FIG. 5) with instructions for the finderof the box, a vest 513 (also both front and back illustrated)identifying the function of the individual for that individual to wear,and a plurality of cards 515 to help instruct the individual how toperform the functions which it is hoped the finder of the box willperform. Similarly, the canister includes a card 517 with instructionsfor the person selecting or being provided the canister, a vest 519 toidentifying the function of the person for that person to wear, and aplurality of cards 521 to help instruct the person how to perform thefunctions which it is hoped the person will perform.

FIG. 6 shows text of a sample card that may be provided with the tray.The card provided with the tray provides instructions as to how to beginresponding to an incident. For example, the instructions may provideinstructions as to how to begin to utilize the contents of the box, theinstructions may provide instructions as to the role expected of theperson finding the box, and/or the instructions may provide instructionsas to the duration for which the role is to be assumed. In general, theindividual is an incident commander for responding to an incident, atleast until another person, for example another person with equal orsuperior training/capability, agrees to be the incident commander, andthe duties of the incident commander may include recruiting others toperform various tasks in responding to the incident.

FIG. 7 shows text of a sample card of the plurality of cards that may beprovided with the tray. The sample card may, for example, providefurther instructions relating to the role the individual is to play inresponding to an incident. For example, the sample card may provideinstructions as to how the incident commander may organize others whomthe incident commander recruits to provide assistance.

FIG. 8 shows text of a sample card showing instructions for a personselected for one of the canisters, with FIG. 9 showing text of moredetailed instructions for such a person. Similarly, FIG. 10 shows textof a sample card showing instructions for a further person who mayassist the person selected for one of the canisters.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an example deployment and use scenario foran incident response system in accordance with aspects of the invention.In block 1111 an incident occurs and is categorized by authorities, forexample governmental or non-governmental disaster planning or responsepersonnel. The incident, for example, may be an earthquake, a largedestructive weather event, civil unrest, or other event or eventsseverely impacting normal provision of services, particularly safety orsupply related services.

In some embodiments, however, in block 1111 there may only be concernthat an incident may occur. For example, there may be concern that anincident such as those discussed above may occur. Alternatively, theremay be a concern that a sinking of a ship may occur, or a building mayneed to be evacuated due to a fire, or a variety of other possibleincidents may be foreseen.

In block 1113 card packs are selected and placed into disaster responseenablement systems, for example the boxes previously discussed herein.The card packs include instructions for localized organized response tothe incident. Different incidents may be suggestive of differentresponses, for example a desired response to a communicable epidemic maydiffer from a desired response to a hurricane or an earthquake, and cardpacks may vary dependent on the incident.

In block 1115 the boxes are deployed to affected locations, for exampleaffected neighborhoods or buildings. The boxes may be deployed by, forexample, helicopter, or by other means.

In block 1117 an individual may happen upon a box, either by randomlyencountering the box or, perhaps more likely, by seeing the boxdeployed, with the individual opening the box, or possibly by beingpreinformed as to the location of the box and the desirability of theindividual utilizing the box in the event of an incident. Assuming theindividual opens the box and undertakes the duties requested by the box,the individual becomes an incident commander for the neighborhood orlocality, and provides a seed of a local organized response to theincident. In block 1119 the incident commander deploys function packs,for example in the form of canisters, to other people. The functionpacks provide instructions for these other people to perform variousfunctions in locally responding to the incident. In many cases thefunction packs themselves instruct the other people to recruit stillfurther people to assist in responding to the incident. In blocks 1121a-n the various functions prescribed or suggested by the function packsbegin, with the functions being performed by the other people andpossibly still further people. As the still further people are, by thisarrangement, in a reporting structure to the other people, and the otherpeople are in a reporting structure to the incident commander, a localorganized response to the incident may be provided.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a use scenario for an incident responsesystem in accordance with aspects of the invention. The system mayinclude, for example, a box and its contents such as discussed herein.In most embodiments the use scenario begins after an incident, forexample a civil emergency as may result from an earthquake or otherdisaster, or a building evacuation, either as part of a drill or due tolocal circumstances such as a fire.

In block 1211 a first person opens the box. The first person may havecome across the box through chance, or in some embodiments the box mayhave been specifically provided to the first person, either before anincident or after an incident.

The box includes a variety of materials, including an activation cardabout a top of the interior of the box. The activation card providesinstructions to the first person as to begin use of the contents of thebox. In block 1213 the first person reads the activation card. Theactivation card may, for example, include text similar to or the same asthe text of the card of FIG. 6, and the card may instruct the firstperson to wear a vest, included in the box, identifying the first personas an incident commander, and to perform the instructions for additionalcards provided in the box for the incident commander. In block 1215 thefirst person, following instructions of the card, puts on the incidentcommander vest and becomes the incident commander.

In block 1217 the first person accesses a plurality of additionalpackages within the box. The additional packages may be in the form ofcanisters, for example as previously discussed, and the canisters may beaccessed by removal of a tray, or commitment barrier, blocking access tothe canisters. For purposes of example, it may be assumed that the boxincludes four canisters, and that instructions to the incident commanderinclude instructions for the incident commander to deploy the canistersto other people. Accordingly, in blocks 1219 a-d first through fourthcanisters are provided to, or taken by, a second person, a third person,a fourth person, and a fifth person, respectively. In blocks 1221 a-deach of the second, third, fourth, and fifth persons puts on a functionspecific vest provided in their respective canister, and becomes thechief for that function, and begins to perform the tasks allotted tothat function for responding to the incident.

The system applies self-organizing principals of command and control forcivilian responders. The cards use the natural bottom up volunteerresponse to emergencies, enhanced with proven CERT or CERT typeinformation and techniques. There is no reliance on externalbureaucracies or imposed command-and-control systems. Nor is there anassumption that any pre-disaster support systems will be stillfunctional.

The operational benefit will be faster and more effective response tonational and local disasters and WMD strikes. This includes fewerpost-incident casualties, better use of civilian resources, and easierintegration of and communication between City, State, Federal, andMilitary rescue efforts and post-disaster neighborhood leadership.

Training material for civilians for a variety of disasters and incidentsalready exists and has been thoroughly tested with thousands of civilianvolunteers in CERT training classes. Developing “drop in” decks to workfor diverse cultures, languages, different incidents, and locationsnation-wide is a tremendous challenge. The cards must help untrainedcivilians work effectively in the middle of a disaster.

The boxes help mitigate all five major flaws in the current “top-down”disaster response paradigm at a small fraction the cost of thoseprograms.

Quantitative Improvements provided in some embodiments:

-   -   There will be more responders, acting more appropriately at        disaster incidents hours or days or weeks earlier than would be        the case without the system.    -   There will be fewer preventable injuries to citizen responders.    -   There will be fewer preventable deaths to citizens in the        affected area.

Qualitative Improvements provided in some embodiments:

-   -   The boxes work without relying on civilian preparation, training        classes, previously acquired resources, or the efficient        functioning of newly imposed bureaucracies and organizational        structures in a disaster area.    -   Citizen responders will have better information on necessary        tasks. Their information will be better organized and directly        actionable.    -   Citizen Volunteers will be self-organized, resulting in more        efficient work and less wasted effort. Their work and response        will be more consistent and appropriate to each situation and        disaster.    -   The organically formed citizen responders will work better with        professional responders in terms of information flow and        transfer of responsibilities.    -   Both the reality and the perception of competent immediate        civilian disaster relief will improve morale and civilian        resilience while reducing panic and leadership issues in the        affected area. This will lessen the demands on other disaster        response resources, and enable more efficient and appropriate        use of professional, government, and military disaster response        resources.

In some embodiments card decks, or other discrete information providingdevices, could include information covering seven complete CERT manualtraining chapters, or information of some or all of those chapters. Therelevant CERT training manual chapters may be:

-   -   Basic Disaster preparedness: Food storage, Water Storage. Water        Purification, Sanitation, and Basic First Aid    -   Fire Safety: Fire prevention, and Fire Fighting    -   Light Search and Rescue: Situation Size-up, Search Operations,        Rescue Operation, Leveraging and Cribbing Operations, and        Surveying and Marking Buildings    -   Organizing People: Assigning and Tracking People, Necessary        Tasks, How to Organize and Deploy Volunteer Resources, Rescuer        Safety, Documentation, and Communication Between Command Levels        & Groups    -   Disaster Psychology: Team Well Being, and Working with        Survivor's Trauma.    -   Disaster Medical Operations I: Recognizing Life Threatening        Conditions, and Triage    -   Disaster Medical Operations II: Public Health (hygiene and        sanitation), Disaster Medical Treatment Areas, Patient        Evaluation, and Basic Treatment

In some embodiments:

-   -   Card deck designs include designs for additional threats (e.g.        WMDs), incidents (e.g. nuclear plant accidents), natural        disasters (e.g. hurricanes, winter storms), and additional        languages (e.g. Spanish, Chinese) not included in CERT Manuals.    -   Card decks are supplemented or replaced by audio, video, or        audiovisual devices with information in storage, or which may        have communication capabilities to receive and display or        otherwise present the information, and in some embodiments store        the information.

The cards preferably may be understood by the vast majority of USresidents in a variety of disaster situations with no previous training.The cards preferably effective mobilize community resources in the timeof a disaster.

In some embodiments card decks are based on the existing, proven contentof the CERT manuals, edited and formatted for use in card decks and byusers who are completely unfamiliar with the content. In someembodiments additional instructions and illustrations are used to enableout-of-the-box use without benefit of any pre-training by theresponders. Physically, the boxes and the cards preferably are durable,strong, and waterproof to survive the disasters they are intended tomitigate, and impact resistant enough to be dropped from helicopters.

The boxes themselves are, in some embodiments pre-deployed in locationswhere they are both safe over a long period of time, but thenimmediately accessible when needed. The boxes themselves may berelatively inexpensive, thus permitted redundant copies to be placed inmany locations.

In some embodiments a localized response to emergency incidents may beprovided through use of video or audiovisual players in the form ofelectronic devices having communication capabilities. In some suchembodiments the electronic devices may be in the form of smartphones,for example, although in various embodiments tablet computers, laptopcomputers or similar devices may be used. In such embodiments theinformation of the instruction cards may be provided and storedelectronically, for example on the smartphones or other electronicdevices. In some embodiments electronic codes, or tokens, may be used inproviding permissions for potential responders to receive and/or use theinformation, depending on the embodiment. The electronic codes, ortokens, may be considered to provide a barrier to accessing theinformation.

In some embodiments the information of the cards is initially stored ona server. In some embodiments the information is downloaded to potentialresponders prior to an incident such as an emergency, in someembodiments the information is downloaded to some potential responders,for example potential incident commanders, prior to an emergency, anddownloaded to other responders during the emergency. In some suchembodiments the information may be downloaded to electronic devices ofpre-identified incident commanders, with the incident commanders thencausing their electronic devices to transfer some of the information toelectronic devices of additional responders, either before or during anemergency. In some embodiments the information may be downloaded toelectronic devices of pre-identified responders. In some embodiments theinformation may be downloaded to electronic devices of individualswithout restriction.

In various embodiments access to the information on the electronicdevices may only be available if the electronic device has or isprovided a particular code, or token. In some such embodiments theinformation is not accessible absent use of a code, or token. The code,or token, for example, may be provided to individuals by a policedepartment, fire department, or other governmental agency prior tooccurrence of the emergency. In some embodiments the codes, or tokens,may only be so provided to potential incident commanders, with theincident commanders providing the codes, or one or some of the codes, toother individuals during occurrence of the emergency.

In some embodiments use of the tokens to access the information triggersthe electronic devices to report activation of a role in thehierarchical organization, along with an identification of theindividual fulfilling that role and contact information for thatinformation. In some embodiments the reporting is provided to theelectronic device of the incident commander for the hierarchicalorganization, in some embodiments to the server initially storing theinformation, or to some other server. In various embodiments theincident commander electronic device, the electronic devices of all ofthe responders, and/or the server are configured to generate and/ormaintain an organizational chart of the hierarchical organization, withidentities and, in some embodiments contact information, for theresponders. In some embodiments the server, or one, some, or all of theelectronic devices in some embodiments, may be configured to distributethe organizational chart to the electronic devices of the responders, orat least one or some of them, to allow the responders to contact oneanother. In some embodiments the server may distribute theorganizational chart to other devices, for example devices of thoseoutside the hierarchical organization, to allow others to contact theresponders. In some embodiments those outside the hierarchicalorganization may be governmental entities charged with responding toemergencies or assisting in responding to emergencies.

In some embodiments a system for use in responding to emergencies usescell phones or portable computing devices capable of communications witheach other. A permission, provided by a code or piece of informationfrom an appropriate authority such as a Fire Department or PoliceDepartment to an individual may allow the individual to start activationof an incident response system on a cell phone or portable computingdevice. This activation may be performed by one or more laymen in anarea affected by the incident.

In some embodiments a plurality of electronic information packages, eachincluding an activation information packet and a set of a plurality ofelectronic information packets, may be downloaded from central source,for example a server, or by transfer between cell phones. Each of theelectronic information packages may define a different role in ahierarchical organization, each role relating to tasks to be performedby an individual in responding to an emergency. In some embodiments atleast some of the tasks including a task of recruitment of others toperform subsidiary roles in the hierarchical organization by way ofdistributing electronic information packages to others so as to form thehierarchical organization.

In some embodiments the plurality of packages include an incidentcommander electronic information package. The incident commander packagemay include an incident commander activation code, or token, andelectronic instruction packets defining tasks to be performed by anemergency incident commander. In some embodiments at least one of thetasks is recruitment of others to perform subsidiary roles in thehierarchical organization.

In some embodiments data codes, or tokens, are required to unlock theplurality of packages for use on the cell phones or portablecommunication devices. In some embodiments different codes, or tokens,are used for electronic packages for different roles in the hierarchicalorganization. In some embodiments the incident commander package mayinclude codes, or tokens, for all of the subsidiary roles in theorganization, and in some such embodiments the cell phone or portablecommunication device of the incident commander may be configured, forexample by the electronic package, to transfer appropriate codes to thedevices of those accepting subsidiary roles in the hierarchicalorganization. In some embodiments the packages for the subsidiary rolesmay also include the codes, or tokens, for roles that are, in turn,subsidiary to those subsidiary roles, and in some such embodiments thecell phone or portable communication device of those in subsidiary rolesmay transfer appropriate codes to the devices of those accepting furthersubsidiary roles in the hierarchical organization.

In some embodiments each of the electronic information packagesadditionally contains information for at least one display for a displayscreen identifying a user as a function leader in the hierarchicalorganization and a drawing and instructions for creating an insigniathat can be worn to identify the user and their functional role. In someembodiments the information for at least one display for the displayscreen comprises a plurality of displays for the display screen, each ofthe plurality of displays identifying a function of the role of the userin the hierarchical organization.

If sufficient communications are available, the packages may configurethe cell phones or portable communication devices to periodicallyupdate/report a current status of the organizational chart (with, insome embodiments, the names and phone numbers of the occupants for eachfunction) to an original authorizing authority (such as the FireDepartment or Police Department), for example for display of all suchtemporary local hierarchical organizations.

FIG. 13 illustrates various aspects of a system including electronicdevices for use in providing a localized response to emergency incidentsin accordance with embodiments of the invention. In FIG. 13, a server1311 stores information of the cards. In some embodiments theinformation of the cards may be considered to be stored in packages,with each package including information of cards for a particular rolein a hierarchical organization for responding to an emergency. In someembodiments, codes, or tokens, are associated with each of the packages.In various embodiments the codes are utilized to allow for access toinformation of the packages. In some embodiments the server also storesthe codes.

The server distributes the packages over a network 1313 to electronicdevices 1315 a-e. In some embodiments the network comprises theInternet, in some embodiments the network includes both wired andwireless components, and in some embodiments the network is generally adata and/or telecommunications network. In some embodiments theelectronic devices includes one, some, or all of smartphones, tabletcomputers, laptop computers, and/or other computer devices. Asillustrated in FIG. 13, the electronic devices include smartphones 1315a-d and a laptop computer 1315 e. In some embodiments the server isconfigured to distribute a package, or multiple packages, to anelectronic device after receiving a request from that electronic devicefor the package(s). In some embodiments the server is configured todistribute the package(s) if the request is accompanied with a code, ortoken, for the package(s) from the electronic device. In someembodiments the package transmitted by the server is a package for aparticular role. In some embodiments the package(s) transmitted by theserver are the package for the particular role and any packages for anyroles subsidiary to the role in the hierarchical organization. In someembodiments the server transmits packages for all the roles to a singleelectronic device for any hierarchical organization, for example theelectronic device for an incident commander in that hierarchicalorganization. In some embodiments the server is configured to transmitthe packages, or some of them, only after the server receives anindication that an emergency or similar incident has occurred.

The electronic devices are configured, for example by programinstructions, to receive the packages, and to display the information ofthe packages. In some embodiments the electronic devices receive thepackages from the server. In some embodiments some of the electronicdevices receive the packages, or a particular package, from anotherelectronic device.

For example, in FIG. 13, electronic device 1315 b may be incommunication with electronic device 1315 a, with electronic device 1315b receiving a particular package from electronic device 1315 a. In someembodiments electronic device 1315 a may be, for example, an electronicdevice of an incident commander, and electronic device 1315 b may be,for example, an electronic device of a user who has accepted a rolesubsidiary to that of the incident commander. In some embodiments theinformation of the packages is displayed on a display screen of theelectronic devices. In some embodiments the displays include a pluralityof displays, and in some such embodiments each of the displays maycorrespond to a card, for example as discussed above.

In some embodiments the electronic devices are only configured todisplay the information of the packages if the electronic devices havethe code, or token, allowing for access to the information of thepackages. In some embodiments the electronic devices may be provided thecodes, or tokens, by a governmental entity, for example a policedepartment or fire department, for example prior to existence of anemergency. Such may be beneficial in allowing the police department orfire department to consider qualifications of individuals prior tocommencement of an emergency. However, in various embodiments onlycodes, or tokens, for a role of an incident commander may be sopre-screened, with the incident commander responsible for locatingindividuals to accept the subsidiary roles. Further, in some embodimentstokens may be distributed by the server upon request, for example duringexistence of an emergency.

In some embodiments the packages, or program instructions associatedwith the codes, may include program instructions for determining that auser associated with an electronic device has accessed information ofthe package, indicating acceptance of a one of the roles, or that theuser has accepted the one of the roles. The program instructions mayfurther include program instructions that transmits, in response to thedetermination that the user accepted the role, an indication of theaccepted role, and in some embodiments identifying and/or contactinformation for the user. The transmission may be to other electronicdevices of users in that hierarchical organization, for example theelectronic device of the incident commander, or to the server, variouslyin various embodiments.

The server, and/or the electronic devices in various embodiments, may beconfigured to prepare information of organizational charts for eachhierarchical organization (depending on circumstances, different localesmay each have their own hierarchical organization for any particularemergency). In some embodiments the information of the organizationalcharts indicates roles filled in the hierarchical organization and, invarious embodiments, some or all of an identifier for individuals inthose roles and/or contact information for those individuals. In someembodiments the server and/or electronic devices are configured todistribute the information of the organizational chart to electronicdevices of users filling roles in the organizations, for example toallow the members of the organization to communicate with one another,and/or to entities such as governmental entities that may be tasked withresponding to the emergency.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a process relating to operation of a systemincluding electronic devices for use in providing a localized responseto emergency incidents in accordance with embodiments of the invention.In some embodiments the process is performed by a system, for examplethe system of FIG. 13. In some embodiments the process, or portions ofthe process, is performed by a server, for example the server of FIG.13. In some embodiments the process, or portions of the process, isperformed by one or more electronic devices, for example one or more ofthe electronic devices of FIG. 13. In some embodiments the process isperformed by one or more processors, for example as configured byprogram instructions.

In block 1411 the process distributes codes, or tokens. The codes, ortokens, may be considered a barrier to access information of packages ofinformation for various roles in a hierarchical organization forresponding to an emergency. In some embodiments the codes, or tokens,provide access to information of the packages. In some embodiments thecodes, or tokens, include program instructions and associated data that,in addition to allowing access to the information, cause electronicdevices to communicate information regarding acceptance of a role toother electronic devices or servers. In some embodiments the codes, ortokens, are provided to individuals who may, or are, taking roles in thehierarchical organization. In some embodiments the codes, or tokens, areprovided by a governmental entity, for example a police or firedepartment, and in some embodiments this is accomplished prior to anemergency. In some embodiments the codes, or tokens, are provided toelectronic devices by the server. In some embodiments the codes, ortokens, are provided to an electronic device by another electronicdevice. For example, in some embodiments a smartphone of an incidentcommander may provide the code, or token, to an electronic device ofanother individual accepting a role subsidiary to that of the incidentcommander.

In block 1413 the process distributes packages. In some embodiments thepackages contain information of the cards, discussed above. In someembodiments each of the packages contain information for display offunctions of particular roles in the hierarchical organization. In someembodiments the server distributes the packages over a data and/ortelecommunications network to electronic devices, for example afterreceiving a code for the package from the electronic device in some, butnot all, embodiments. In some embodiments the server distributes thepackages to a one of the electronic devices, for example an electronicdevice of an incident commander, with the electronic device of theincident commander distributing packages to electronic devices of othersaccepting roles subsidiary to that of the incident commander. In somesuch embodiments, the process may also return to operations of block1411, with the electronic device of the incident commander alsodistributing codes, or tokens, for accessing the packages to theelectronic devices of the others.

In block 1415 the process allows for access to the information of thepackages by the electronic devices. In some embodiments the processallows for access to the information of the packages by the electronicdevices if the electronic devices have, or are provided, a code, ortoken, indicating access to the information should be allowed. Further,in some embodiments in block 1415 the process also performs furtheroperations in response to allowing for access to the information. Forexample, in some embodiments the process also transmits an indicationthat access has been allowed, which for example indicates that a rolehas been accepted by a user of the electronic device. In suchembodiments the electronic device may transmit an indication that therole has been accepted, and information regarding the user who hasaccepted the role. In some embodiments the information regarding theuser who has accepted the role may include one, some, or all of a nameof the user who has accepted the role, the role accepted, and/or contactinformation (for example one, some, or all of address, email address,phone number) of the user. In some embodiments the information istransmitted to another electronic device, for example that of theincident commander, and/or a server.

In block 1417 the process updates information of an organizational chartof the hierarchical organization. In some embodiments the process alsodistributes the information of the organization chart, for example tomembers of the organization and/or governmental entities withresponsibility for responding to the emergency. In some embodiments theserver updates the organizational chart with the information regardingrole acceptance and users who have accepted roles. In some embodimentsthe electronic device of the incident commander performs the update ofthe organization chart. Similarly, in various embodiments the serverand/or the electronic device of the incident commander distributes theinformation of the organizational chart.

The process thereafter returns, it being recognized that in variousembodiments the process may perform operation of the various block invarious orders, and re-perform operations of various blocks at varioustimes as well.

Accordingly, aspects of the invention provide for local, organizeddisaster response. Although the invention has been described withrespect to various embodiments, it should be recognized that theinvention comprises the claims supported by this disclosure, and theirinsubstantial variations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for use in responding to emergencies,comprising: a plurality of packages, each including an activation cardand a set of a plurality of instruction cards, each set of the pluralityof instruction cards defining a different role in a hierarchicalorganization, each role relating to tasks to be performed by anindividual in responding to an emergency, at least some of the tasksincluding a task of recruitment of others to perform subsidiary roles inthe hierarchical organization by way of distributing packages to othersso as to form the hierarchical organization; wherein the plurality ofpackages include an incident commander package, the incident commanderpackage including an incident commander activation card and instructioncards defining tasks to be performed by an emergency incident commander,at least one of the tasks being recruitment of others to performsubsidiary roles in the hierarchical organization; a box containing theplurality of packages; and a removable barrier within the box, theremovable barrier on top of the packages other than the incidentcommander package, the removable barrier blocking access to thecanisters other than the incident commander package within the box, theactivation card for the incident commander package includinginstructions to remove the removable barrier and distribute at leastsome of the packages other than the incident commander package to atleast some of the others recruited to perform the subsidiary roles. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the card packs include information of acivilian emergency response training manual.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein each of the packages additionally contains at least one item ofwearable visible indicators identifying a wearer as a function leader inthe hierarchical organization.
 4. The system of claim 3 wherein thefunction is that of incident commander.
 5. The system of claim 3 whereinthe at least one item of visible clothing comprises a plurality of itemsof visible clothing, each of the plurality of items of visible clothingidentifying a function of the wearer in the hierarchical organization.6. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one item of visibleclothing comprises an item of clothing wearable over a range of bodysizes.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one item of highlyclothing comprises a vest.
 8. A system for use in responding toemergencies, comprising: a plurality of packages, each including anelectronic player with computer readable storage medium, the computerreadable storage medium for storing information defining different rolesin a hierarchical organization, each role relating to tasks to beperformed by an individual in responding to an emergency, at least someof the tasks including a task of recruitment of others to performsubsidiary roles in the hierarchical organization by way of distributingpackages to others so as to form the hierarchical organization; whereinthe plurality of packages include an incident commander package, theincident commander package including a one of the electronic players forthe incident commander, the computer readable storage medium of theelectronic player for the incident commander being for storinginformation of tasks to be performed by an emergency incident commander,at least one of the tasks being recruitment of others to performsubsidiary roles in the hierarchical organization; a box containing theplurality of packages; and a removable barrier within the box, theremovable barrier on top of the packages other than the incidentcommander package, the removable barrier blocking access to the packagesother than the incident commander package within the box, the electronicplayer for the incident commander package including instructions toremove the removable barrier and distribute at least some of thepackages other than the incident commander package to at least some ofthe others recruited to perform the subsidiary roles.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the electronic players comprise a smartphone.
 10. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the electronic players comprise a laptopcomputer.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the electronic playerscomprise tablet computer devices.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein theelectronic players comprise video players.
 13. The system of claim 8,wherein the electronic players comprise audiovisual players.
 14. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein each of the packages additionally contains atleast one item of wearable visible indicators identifying a wearer as afunction leader in the hierarchical organization.
 15. The system ofclaim 14 wherein the at least one item of visible clothing comprises aplurality of items of visible clothing, each of the plurality of itemsof visible clothing identifying a function of the wearer in thehierarchical organization.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein the atleast one item of highly clothing comprises a vest.
 17. A system for usein responding to emergencies, comprising: a plurality of packages ofinformation, each package of information including information defininga different role in a hierarchical organization, each role relating totasks to be performed by an individual in responding to an emergency, atleast some of the tasks including a task of recruitment of others toperform subsidiary roles in the hierarchical organization by way ofdistributing packages of information to others so as to form thehierarchical organization, the plurality of packages of informationincluding an incident commander package of information, the incidentcommander package including a plurality of tokens allowing for access tothe information of the packages of information; a server configured totransmit the plurality of packages of information to at least oneelectronic communication device.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein theat least one electronic communications device comprises an electroniccommunications device of an incident commander.
 19. The system of claim18, further comprising the electronics communications device of theincident commander, and wherein the incident commander package includesprogram instructions to configure the electronics communications deviceof the incident commander to provide for transfer of the packages ofinfoi illation to other electronic communication devices, along withtokens allowing for access to the information of the packages ofinformation.
 20. The system of 19, wherein the tokens include programinstructions for configuring the electronic communications devices totransmit information of a role defined by information of a one of thepackages received by the electronic communication devices, andinformation relating to users of the electronic communication devices;and wherein the server is further configured to receive the informationtransmitted by the electronic communication devices and to generateinformation of an organizational chart of the hierarchical organization,includes roles filled in the hierarchical organization and informationrelating to the users, and wherein the server is further configured totransmit the information of the organizational chart to the electroniccommunication devices.